Captain America: Building a Better America pt 1
by Cap808
Summary: Another new beginning for Captain America, but how can a worldwide icon live a normal life? It doesn't help when he faces the Ultimate in foreign threats.


**Captain America - Volume 2**

'BUILDING A BETTER AMERICA' 1 of 4 

**Issue #1 – 'Foreign Soil'**

**New York**

The United Nations, on a not so typical Monday morning - The flags of several nations normally flutter proudly through what romantics might call 'the winds of freedom'. Today, however, they hang limp, tattered, and in some cases, singed. Usually the streets below are active with people constantly rushing to get where they needed to be 5 minutes ago. The pandemonium today is exceptional.

Five super villains have brought all order to a halt, and chaos reigns instead. Civilians either run for safety, or lay injured in the streets. Cars everywhere are overturned and rubble litters the steps in front of the United Nations. At the forefront of the villains charge is the Chinese overlord, the Mandarin, his ten fingers adorned with ten rings of different and very deadly attributes. His long, thinning hair drapes over the shoulders of his tall, lanky frame. He cackles almost uncontrollably as he uses his Vortex Ring to knock over an oncoming S.W.A.T vehicle.

"Fools! Always rushing in without taking into account who you're dealing with!"

Among the Mandarin's allies is the enormous Man-Ape, who covers himself in the pelt of a legendary great white ape, and as such he has acquired the creature's strength, agility, and especially its savagery. He has tried and failed several times to overthrow the African nation of Wakanda. At the moment he is content with barreling through a squadron of secret service agents that had gathered en masse in response to this threat. The Man-Ape has knocked the lot of them unconscious, and having embraced the beast within, he continues to maul the men even as the bodies go limp.

**On an adjacent street**

Merrano the U-Man throws a tour bus down the middle of the road. Civilians and authorities scatter, and the curious mobs turn into stubborn pockets of individuals who simply **have** to see the attack play out. Regardless, the Atlantean powerhouse has successfully given his allies a lot of room to operate. His blue-skinned muscles seem to be bulging with the Pacific Ocean itself as he lifts a nearby cab. He grins with the discovery of his increased strength, and the dried saltwater cracks on the corners of his lips. A terrified policeman nervously fires his gun and the shaky shot bounces off the U-Man's back, getting his attention. He turns with the bad intention of squashing the officer with the taxi, but a purple blur swoops down and seemingly rescues the officer by lifting him into the air.

As Merrano looks skyward, blood rains down upon him, and the moving downpour marinates several other bystanders. Merrano raises his fist to the sky and screams, "Damn you Baron! I don't care where you eviscerate your prey, as long as it's not above me!"

Merrano wipes himself off and mutters, "Damn vampires. In the sun no less. Gives me the bloody creeps."

Above him, the pale vampire continues to drink from the dead officer. New York is a long way from his native England, but Baron Blood doesn't care. The taste of warm blood is still exquisite, especially when enjoyed during the daylight. He can't wait for the Captain to get here. The Captain will be very surprised to see him out in the sun. Then he would kill the Captain and feast on him. The thought sends shivers through the Baron, and at that point he couldn't stand the taste of anything else. Like throwing a banana peel out the window, the Baron discards the police officer.

Merrano has since accosted a female reporter covering the rampage. The reporter's cameraman has been beaten to a pulp, and she prepares herself for the worst. Luckily for her, the discarded officer crashes onto her news van. The impact shatters the vehicle's windows and causes Merrano to flinch. The mood gone, he pushes the screaming reporter away from him.

The Man-Ape and the final member of the group, Batroc the Leaper, come running to see what the sudden commotion is. Merrano points skywards and Batroc looks up and says, "I can't stand zee vampires. My skin, she crawls."

The trio slowly make their way back to the Mandarin. He uses his impact beam to knock a police helicopter out of the sky, while Baron Blood terrorizes the passengers of a nearby traffic helicopter.

The Mandarin looks at his group and seems disappointed. "Do you fools mean to tell me he hasn't arrived yet?"

Merrano shrugs, "Don't look at us, China-man. We raised more than enough hell."

The Mandarin runs his finger down his Fu-Manchu styled moustache. "It's sad, really. All of this done in his honor, and he's nowhere to be seen."

The Man-Ape catches a scent and begins to rapidly sniff at the air. "Just because you can't see a predator, doesn't mean it isn't there."

Batroc nervously looks around, almost expecting the very sky to fall on him. "What does zat mean, gorilla-man? Is he here?"

Before Man-Ape can answer, a thunderous motorcycle engine is heard, and the villains each look in every direction of the horizon. The engine gets louder and the villains who had moments earlier owned the world, were now very threatened, and very worried.

Man-Ape continues ominously, "The lion roars."

From behind an abandoned Daily Bugle truck, Captain America launches his motorcycle into the air, and then jumps off of it prior to the bike crashing into Merrano. The resulting impact and explosion take down the powerful U-Man. Like a cat, Cap lands on his feet, and in the next instant determines that Batroc is the weakest of the group. He wants to get him out of the way quickly and efficiently so he doesn't become a pest while he takes care of the real threats. He grabs the frozen Batroc by an arm and throws him through the front doors of the United Nations. Glass is sprayed everywhere and the limp body of Batroc slides through the main lobby. Cap watches the Frenchman's body come to a halt, and is satisfied with his somewhat aggressive method. A message should have been sent and received with that.

He quickly forgives himself of any doubt after snapping back to the carnage that this group has caused. Cap puts a finger up to an earpiece within his mask. Then he speaks into a microphone also woven into the mask, "Chipper, it's me. As you've probably already seen through the fiber optics, I've already encountered the U-Man and Batroc. I also see the Mandarin and Man-Ape."

Cap felt a lot of pride when it came to Chipper. The young man couldn't cut it as a S.H.I.E.L.D recruit, and ever since then, Cap had taken him on as his own technical support. Chipper was like a lot of the other recruits as far as knowing policies and procedures, but to put it nicely, Chipper wasn't physically fit. He wasn't morbidly obese, but he wasn't up to the rigors of an everyday field agent. Cap could sympathize, and therefore convinced some of the top brass at S.H.I.E.L.D to set it up for him to take Chipper under his wing. From the safety of a control room, he could give Cap all the background he needed.

From the other end of the earpiece, Chipper answers, "Way ahead of you, Captain. It seems this group has been on several Middle Eastern covert operations in the last few months - if you can call a giant fish guy and a mini King Kong, covert. They've been calling themselves the Foreign Legion. I guess it's their idea of a joke. There's something else you should know Cap, they have a fifth member…"

The red, white and blue avenger turns his attention to the Mandarin. "I'll get right back to you, Chipper."

Cap has done so much so quickly, that he has to casually remember to address the Mandarin and the Man-Ape. He confidently turns to the Mandarin - who is closer, and something about Cap's composure rattles the Mandarin. Playing into Cap's hands, he panics and throws out his left hand and fires an ice beam. Cap raises his shield and deflects the beam.

The Mandarin realizes his error when the once frenzied Man-Ape turns silent. His massive body covered in a block of ice, and his silent rage frozen for the world to see. Cap knows that a proud man such as M'Baku would not take a humiliation like this lightly.

Cap steps forward. "Okay Mandarin, I can't pretend to understand exactly what you're all doing here, but rest assured, I will stop you."

"You can drop the façade, Captain. I could simply dispose of you myself, but I still have one more friend for you to meet. You may know him already."

Cap notices a very large shadow pass above him.

The shadow speaks in a high-pitched hiss, "Miss me, Captain?"

Cap ducks just before Baron Blood can slash him.

"Oh my God! Baron Blood? In the daylight?"

Baron Blood lands several feet away, and he can't contain his glee. "Glorious, isn't it Captain? You and I are going to have so much fun now."

Baron Blood slowly, yet deliberately walks towards the Captain. Cap cautiously circles the vampire.

"You're supposed to be dead, Blood."

"I'm a vampire Captain. I am dead."

The Baron bares his fangs. A mixture of saliva and blood slowly fills the Baron's lips, and he leaps forward. Cap gets his shield up in time and defends the Baron's first strike. KA-TANG!

It normally amused the Captain to hear how a foes flesh sounded metallic when coming into contact with his shield. Today though, Cap can't get himself to smile. The Baron hovers just within an arm's reach of Cap and the two slash at each other, Blood with his claws, and Cap with his shield.

The situation was already an urgent one that Cap had been ill prepared for – and it is about to get much, much worse. Through his peripheral vision, Cap can see that Merrano was already stirring. His heightened hearing picks up the first crack in the mini-iceberg that holds the Man-Ape. This is going to go from bad to worse in seconds. Cap's mind is racing, and his subconscious lets slip, "If only I was stronger, faster."

No sooner had the thought occurred, than Cap hears a scrape of pavement behind him. It only takes a second, and the Mandarin has gotten behind Cap and fires a burst of flame. Cap is in a corner, and whereas a normal man would have no choice, Cap's reactions are super-human enough to afford him this so-called luxury. He decides that a few burns are better than the bite of a vampire. The flames engulf him for a second and the extreme heat brings him to his knees.

Baron Blood lets out an inhuman wail. "Mandarin, you coward! You'd burn him from behind? You're not even worthy of this man's attention."

The Mandarin doesn't flinch. "Stay away from me, vampire."

By this time, Merrano has recovered, and he holds the singed Captain down on the ground. Man-Ape has also broken through the ice that had been holding him, and he furiously looks at the Mandarin.

"I'll kill you, Mandarin!"

"Get back, savage. I won't hesitate to kill you **and** the vampire. You're all easily replaced."

While the villains posture, a voice speaks into Cap's ear. "Cap? Are you okay?"

As bad as Cap feels, he has been through worse. He forces nothing more than a whisper, hoping that Merrano wouldn't be able to hear him.

"Chipper?"

"Cap, calls are pouring in from every global agency. As usual, China has refused comment regarding the Mandarin. England has stated that even if this is the real Baron Blood, he has no affiliation with the royal family. The same goes for the Man-Ape and Wakanda. The story on Merrano is that he no longer has Atlantean citizenship, but he may have ties to the Japanese yakuza. Nothing regarding Batroc other than his normal felonies."

Even in bad shape, Cap has to chuckle over the Batroc comment. "Thanks, Chipper."

"You're welcome. Now get up."

"Just waiting for the pieces on the board to get into position."

Cap had already put the burns he suffered from the Mandarin's ring in a storage cabinet in his brain - he'd remember to feel that pain later. Right now, he has to take care of these monsters. The adrenaline within him had started to bubble, and he can feel himself ready to fight.

Rejuvenated, he lifts his shield with all of his might and knocks Merrano backwards. He jumps to his feet and delivers a swift kick to the face of the Man-Ape. He throws his shield at Baron Blood and it sticks in the vampire's neck. Blood doubles over in pain, and frantically pulls at the shield.

The rally almost complete, Cap once again turns to the Mandarin, and this time doesn't hesitate in knocking the Mandarin to his knees.

Then comes a voice from the United Nations' front door. It is a moment that will haunt Captain America for the rest of his life.

"Mon Capitan! Did you forget about me already?"

Cap turns to see Batroc proudly standing in the doorway - his costume covered in blood. While he would hope otherwise, Cap realizes that it's not Batroc's.

"Batroc…what have you done?"

"What I should have done years ago…I have become a legend. Inside, you will find zat there are 19 less of zee foreign diplomats breathing. I must tell you Captain, I found zee experience quite exhilarating."

Captain America is furious. Batroc could be bluffing, but after years of dealing with the worst scum in the universe, Cap knows a murderer when he sees one. Now Cap has to cope with the guilt of throwing Batroc into the building in the first place. It was a sound technical call, he tried to remind himself, but it didn't help. In an unusual act of rage, Cap recklessly charges towards Batroc without a plan of action.

Like lightning, Batroc kicks Captain America in the face, and the Captain falls unconscious.

Merrano had been to the furthest depths of the sea, and he would compare the silence there to this exact moment. Captain America knocked out by Batroc?

"You've got to be kidding me? Where the hell did that come from, Frenchie?"

Batroc grins, "I am a man of many surprises, U-Man. Impressive, yes?"

Merrano can't help but to nod. "You bet your ass it was."

The Mandarin has gotten to his feet. "I did not realize that you had it in you, Batroc. You have made me very happy. I shall see to it that you are rewarded handsomely."

Batroc lets out a huge belly laugh.

"My apologies, monsieur Mandarin, you seem to think that you are still zee one in charge, no?"

"What are you babbling about? Of course I'm in charge."

"You see my friend, zee Foreign Legion, she is Batroc's baby, yes?"

The Mandarin raises his right hand towards Batroc. "You are crazy, Batroc. Don't be deluded by what you did to the Captain. I can still kill you where you stand with my disintegration beam."

"No monsieur, you could not. My friends would not let you."

Mandarin turns to see that Merrano, Man-Ape, and Baron Blood have all recovered from the Captain's attack, and all of them stand in alliance with Batroc. Mandarin slowly lifts his left hand and points it in the direction of the rest of the group.

"Sorry Mon Ami, zee rings, they will not work anymore."

Afraid and frustrated, the Mandarin tries to zap Batroc. Nothing happens. He then tries to fire off attacks at the rest of the Foreign Legion. Nothing.

Batroc snaps his fingers, and the Mandarin's rings start to shrink. Metal digs into flesh, and then snaps into bone. The Mandarin screams out in unbridled agony until all ten fingers are broken, and he passes out from the pain.

Batroc addresses the rest of his team. "Today was a very good day, my friends. Months of patience have finally paid off. With the good Captain as our prisoner, the United States will slowly become Foreign Soil!"

END 


End file.
